Josh Watson (swimmer)
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Joshua John Watson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Josh" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 31 July 1977 Newcastle, New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Kingscliff Swim Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Joshua John Watson (born 31 July 1977) is an Australian backstroke swimmer who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Training at the Kingscliff club near the Queensland border, and coached by Greg Salter, Watson became Australian champion in the 50-metre backstroke in 1996. However, as it was not an Olympic event, he did not gain national selection until 1997, when he competed at the 1997 FINA Short Course World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. In 1998, he made his international long-course debut at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where he won a silver medal in the 100-metre backstroke and a gold medal in the medley relay. Josh was Australia's first male Backstroke World Champion when he won the 200m Backstroke at the 1999 FINA Short Course World Championships in Hong Kong. He also won bronze in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Sydney.
At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Watson swam the backstroke leg in the heats of the 4×100-metre medley relay, before being replaced by Matt Welsh in the team that trailed the United States team home in the final. Watson was also a finalist in the 100-metre backstroke, where he was narrowly beaten into fourth place.[2] Watson continued to be selected in the same role (except for a self-imposed break in 2002) until the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, when he failed to qualify for the semifinals of the 100-metrebackstroke. This enabled him to collect a gold medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Watson now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Tess.[2] He is the cousin of Melinda Gainsford-Taylor.
See also
References
- ^ "ESPN Sydney Swimming". Retrieved 13 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Where Are They Now? Five members of the Sydney 2000 Aussie Swim Team Trip Down Memory Lane," Swimming World, 25 September 2020.
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- 1977 births
- Living people
- Australian male backstroke swimmers
- Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Olympic swimmers for Australia
- Olympic silver medalists for Australia
- Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
- Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists in swimming
- Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming
- Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
- Sportsmen from New South Wales
- Australian emigrants to the United States
- Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
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